Interim Dividends Surpass 4 Trillion Won... Samsung Electronics' Share Falls to 50%

Number of Companies with Interim Dividends Increased from 47 to 62
Interim Dividend Keywords Among Listed Companies Excluding Samsung Electronics
POSCO Dividends 302.5 Billion KRW... Up 660% Compared to Previous Year

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] The interim dividends of domestic listed companies as of the end of June this year have surpassed 4 trillion won for the first time ever. As the number of companies paying interim dividends increased, the proportion of Samsung Electronics in the total dividends also decreased.

According to financial information firm FnGuide on the 12th, 62 listed companies paid semi-annual dividends this year, with the total dividend amount reaching 4.3913 trillion won. Semi-annual dividends increased from 1.8324 trillion won in 2017 to 3.1839 trillion won in 2018, reaching a record high of 3.3502 trillion won in 2019. Last year, due to the impact of COVID-19, interim dividends decreased by 21.5% compared to the previous year, recording 2.6297 trillion won, but this year they increased again by 1.7615 trillion won (67%). The number of companies paying semi-annual dividends also rose sharply from 49 in 2019 and 47 in 2020 to 62 this year.

By company, Samsung Electronics paid 2.155 trillion won in dividends, accounting for about 49% of the total dividends. However, looking at the historical trend of interim dividends, its share has significantly decreased. Since 2018, Samsung Electronics has paid over 2 trillion won in interim dividends, with its share exceeding 60%, and last year it accounted for 80.3% of the total interim dividends (2.6297 trillion won).

This is due to a significant increase in the number of listed companies that have increased or newly started semi-annual dividends this year, thanks to improved performance. Dividends from listed companies excluding Samsung Electronics amounted to 2.2362 trillion won, which is 1 trillion won (80.8%) more than the previous record high of 1.2369 trillion won in 2019, and 1.7198 trillion won (333%) more than last year's 516.4 billion won.

By individual stocks, POSCO paid 302.5 billion won in dividends, a significant increase from 39.8 billion won a year ago. Hyundai Motor and S-Oil, which did not pay interim dividends last year due to the COVID-19 crisis, paid 200.5 billion won and 112.5 billion won respectively after two years.

Among financial holding companies, some started paying interim dividends. KB Financial Group paid 292.2 billion won, Shinhan Financial Group 154.9 billion won, and Woori Financial Group 108.3 billion won, all paying interim dividends for the first time ever. Hana Financial Group paid 204 billion won, more than 50 billion won higher than last year's 145.7 billion won. The interim dividends of these four major financial holding companies totaled 759.6 billion won, accounting for 17.3% of the total.

Including these, the number of companies paying interim dividends of over 100 billion won reached 10, a sharp increase from 2 last year and 5 in 2019. All were KOSPI-listed stocks. Among KOSDAQ stocks, Seegene paid the highest interim dividend for the first time at 20.7 billion won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.